


Inheritance

by CathalAshenhand



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:14:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28977981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CathalAshenhand/pseuds/CathalAshenhand
Summary: Iruka takes Mizuki's shuriken to the back in place of Naruto. Thinking Iruka to be dead, Naruto loses control and prepares to unleash the Kyuubi, however before he can tear off the seal, he is stopped by the hand of his hero. The Yondaime Hokage...
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

Naruto, in truth, had lost focus on what was going on around him. The whirlwind of thoughts and emotions flying around him were just too much to ignore. He was a fox demon? The same one that had killed the Fourth and attacked the village? That was why no-one seemed to care? Why he was never acknowledged? At first, he had brushed Mizuki's words off as lies; but mere seconds later it all made sense to him. The hatred directed his way for seemingly no reason, the coldness, the disgust. It all fit with what Mizuki was saying.

He was a demon.

He had killed.

He vaguely recognised Mizuki announcing his attack and launching the shuriken at him, and for some reason, he simply didn't move; instead he just closed his eyes and waited. It wasn't that he had made a conscious decision not to move - or at least, he hadn't consciously had the thought that he wanted to die. Nor was it that the attack was coming too fast for the blond Genin to dodge. Were he the introspective type, he would realise that the revelations of Mizuki had overwhelmed him - that they had completely taken his mind away from the moment and distracted him. It was just too much...

Thud.

The blonde waited for the pain to kick in. He felt a warm liquid splash onto his face, and begin to run across his definitive whisker marks and surmised it was his own blood.

"Naruto, you okay?"

Naruto's eyes flew open, only to be greeted with a bloody Iruka hovering over him, struggling to hold himself upright. He had taken the attack instead of Naruto.

"You need to listen to me Naruto"

Iruka gasped, struggling for breath. He had already recognised what had happened to him. Mizuki's shuriken had been laced with a fast active toxin that acts to paralyse the body entirely. He had been hit by it once before, caught in the crossfire on a mission to Rice Country and so recognised the feeling rather well. This also meant he only had around a minute or so before he would pass out completley after becoming fully paralysed, leaving him unable to protect his student further. He had to get through to the child, or the consequences could be disastrous.

"Naruto, I believe in you. You will make Hokage, I know it." He couldn't think of anything else to say, but looking at the young aspiring shinobi's face, he knew he hadn't been heard. Naruto was too torn up, too engulfed in self doubt to even realise what was happening. Iruka felt his muscles give way as dropped to the ground beside Naruto, unable to remain conscious.

The sound of Iruka dropping to the ground knocked Naruto out of his stupor. He knew the scarred Chunin was talking to him, but he hadn't picked up on what was being said. Regardless, the wound from the attack shouldn't have caused Iruka that much trouble; even Naruto knew that much. Something was wrong. It was then he heard one word, spoken with immeasurable smugness.

"Poison."

Poison that would explain it! Wait, Iruka hadn't moved. He still wasn't - was he even breathing? Poison. But that would mean Iruka was...

For the first time in his life Naruto was angry. Actually, it was more than that. Naruto was nearly completely consumed with complete fury. He didn't even notice his vision swim red as a vile feeling swept over the clearing and his body was completely coated with blood red chakra. Dark whispers filled his mind as his anger grew, and with it; the amount of the chakra poured out of his body. The blonde was struggling to control his own bloodlust when Iruka's words came to him as if from a distant dream.

"Naruto, I believe in you."

That was all it took to push him over the edge. All that was needed for his mind to stop struggling for control, and for him to lose grip on consciousness and allowed control of his own body to slip away.

...Drip

...Drip

...Drip

Naruto was pulled to his feet out of the water by tendrils of red chakra, his eyes were dull and grey almost as if he were dead. If it weren't for the ragged and course breathing, he wouldn't be showing any signs of life at all. What had been dark whispers of rage and violence at the back of his mind, were now full blown roars that exuded the sheer malevolence of the creature that the thirteen year old now stood before in the dark recesses of his own mind.

"Come closer, boy. I will end all your pain, all your suffering. All I need is one favour and it will all be better. I...promise."

Naruto showed no other signs of being aware of what he was being told until he slowly began to stumble forwards towards the great bars that held the creature at bay.

"Yes, Yes. Good. Now all you need to do is remove that piece of paper reading 'seal' and I promise all of your pain will go away"

Naruto simply reached for the paper and began to pull away. Suddenly, the blonde tensed as the vibrant blue returned to his eyes. It took him a couple of seconds to regain his bearings and to notice the hand that had prevented him from completely removing the seal from the cage that held back the demon.

"I really didn't want it to come to this; but I do get to see how my son has grown...so I guess that makes it even."

The blonde stared up at the man who had awakened him from his trance, whilst the demon roared in frustration.

"Yondaime-sama..."


	2. A Heritage Revealed

Now, any one even remotely acquainted with Uzumaki Naruto would know that he was definitely not one for honorifics. He could face down some of the most powerful ninja the world had ever seen and brush them off with a vaguely rude nickname and his relationship with the Sandaime Hokage was evidence of that very fact. He was the single most respected and powerful ninja in Konoha; he was their leader, The God of Shinobi. However, despite knowing every jutsu in Konoha, training the Sannin and surviving all of The Great Shinobi Wars; to Uzumaki Naruto, he was quite simply 'The Old Man'.

So when the same Uzumaki Naruto was faced with Konoha's own Namikaze Minato, the 'Yellow Flash', it was a testament to Naruto's respect and admiration for the man that all Naruto could muster was an awed 'Yondaime-sama'. Naruto himself was still trying to understand events himself. All he could remember before being faced with the image of the Yondaime, was learning the Kage Bunshin and Iruka and Mizuki turning up-

The rest of the memories hit him like kunai, each one driving itself deeper into him than the last. That feeling from before returned he was angry, hurt and confused all at the same time. It began to build once again, and once again red chakra began to creep beyond it's boundaries towards the distraught boys.

"Naruto, you need to calm down"

Naruto's eyes darted upwards back towards the Yondaime who had placed his hand on the other blonde's shoulder, and the red chakra began to recede; resulting in another cry of frustration from the Kyuubi. The Fourth just nonchalantly looked over his shoulder at the beast, peered back to Naruto and jabbed at the demon with his thumb.

"He sure is a noisy one isn't he? What do you say we go talk somewhere else?"

Naruto could only nod as the Yondaime took Naruto's arm and the two appeared to phase out of existence causing the Kyuubi to cry out once more.

Naruto looked around at his new surrounding quietly. For the first time in his life he didn't have anything to yell about. No message of defiance to scream out to the world. He glanced to the man standing in front of him and didn't know how to react. The Yondaime was standing right there in front of him and he barely even reacted. It was only when the former Hokage began to speak that Naruto even made eye contact with him.

"Naruto, I know that you've been through a lot tonight. I understand that you're in pain and that you lost someone important to you. But I need you to listen to what I have to say to you. I don't have much time until my chakra runs out and I have to leave, okay?" The blonde in question nodded once again, but said nothing. Seeing this, Minato sighed but pressed on nevertheless.

"First of all, I want to clear up what happened on the night of the Kyuubi's attack. I did not transform the fox into you. I was however forced to use a sealing jutsu to trap the Kyuubi away at the cost of my own life. Unfortunately, a demon of Kyuubi's power is far to powerful to be contained in just anything. To be sealed securely, it need to be trapped inside of a new-born human baby. That baby, was you."

Naruto's gaze fell downwards again, focusing on where the floor should have been.

"But I still don't understand, why did it have to be me? Why pick me! I, I -" But he was interrupted by the late Kage's hand grasping his shoulder reassuringly. Naruto looked up towards the Yondaime, who sported an ever so slightly cocky grin.

"Well I couldn't trust such an important job to any old kid. The kid I chose needed to be strong enough to keep that Fox locked away for good. So then, who better to choose than my own son? Right, Naruto?" Naruto's eyes never left the Yondaime's face. He desperately searched for any trace of deceit in the man's face, but could find none.

"I'm...the son of the Yondaime?" Naruto's eyes widened slowly as the news sunk in.

Minato grinned even wider when he saw his son's reaction. He had been afraid that Naruto would have been angry with him, or even rejected him all together. But there was too much Kushina in him. Of course, he had been watching over Naruto all this time. And even though it infuriated him, he could do nothing aside from watch his son endure treatment that would have broken any normal child. Naruto was never beaten, or abused. Even verbally. But some would argue that what Naruto endured was even worse. He was quite simply, ignored. As far as the rest of the village was concerned, he never existed. No-one made eye contact, no-one would talk to him. For years, the closest thing to attention Naruto got - occasional visits from the Sandaime aside - were hushed comments made when the villagers thought he was out of earshot.

The tall blonde haired shinobi's image started to fade, and his demeanour became serious as he realised he was nearly out of chakra.

"Naruto, I'm almost out of chakra. I need to reseal the Kyuubi's chakra before I run out." His fingertips glowed blue with sealing chakra as he re-applied the seal to Naruto's stomach.

"Your Mother and I are proud of you Naruto, and we always will be. We'll be watching you when you make Hokage, I love you son."

Naruto, rushed at the fast disappearing figure of his father; his arms outstretched, as if he was going to try ang grab him to prevent him from leaving.

"Wait, I-" But his father had already gone, and the formerly white room began to fade to black as if he had been knocked unconscious."

\-----

The Sandaime looked at the receding chakra of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Naruto had almost given over to the beast, and Sarutobi had mobilised the full force of his ANBU to ensure that the tragedy of twelve years ago would not repeat itself. He himself had led the force, dressed in his full battle gear, with his powerful summon Enma at the ready. He had spent the entire journey going over the seals to the Shiki Fuin in his mind, and an ANBU had been dispatched to find an appropriate vessel for the summon.

But his thorough preparations had been for naught. He arrived with his ANBU to find that only residual chakra remained around Naruto, a sure-fire sign that the Kyuubi had been resealed. Of course, that was entirely impossible - only himself and Jiraiya had the knowledge to perform the Shiki Fuin.

"Hokage-sama, what is going on?" The ANBU captain directly to his right asked. The Scarecrow-like man was donned in an Inu mask and was, despite his ANBU status, unable to keep the concern out of his voice.

"There are two possible explanations. One is that the Kyuubi has been resealed, by a seal master. However, the seal would have to be the Shiki Fuin; and therefore only myself and Jiraiya could have been the ones to do it."

"Well that's impossible. Jiraiya-sama isn't here, and it definitely was not yourself."

"Indeed." Replied Sarutobi, "That would leave one more explanation. And that would be that Naruto himself managed to resist the Kyuubi's power and is forcing the chakra back through willpower alone. Which I'm sure you'll agree is-"

The two were interrupted by the sound of Naruto collapsing to the ground. Sarutobi and the ANBU captain were there in a flash, to assess the condition of the boy, but were further surprised when the blonde jinchuuriki began to pull himself to his feet.

"Man, I feel like I just fell off the Hokage Mountain. Everything hurts!" Grumbled the blonde, whilst rubbing the top of his head and staring accusedly at the ground, apparently not noticing his audience. "Hang on, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto for the first time looked up, coming eye to eye with Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Hokage-jiji! Iruka-sensei he-" Naruto began frantically.

"You don't need to worry Naruto. Iruka will be okay, he is on his way to the hospital. Now do you mind if I look at your stomach? I just need to check something."

"You wanna see my new seal?" a relieved looking Naruto asked.

Sarutobi was forced to stop to think about his next move. He knew from an awakened Iruka that Mizuki had told the boy that he had been transformed into the Kyuubi, not that the Kyuubi had been sealed. He also said that the seal was 'new'; that made no sense. There was no evidence that anyone had placed a new seal on him, there wasn't even evidence that anyone but Naruto and the two chuunin instructors had been here. Regardless, he needed to check the safety of the seal anyway.

"Yes Naruto, I need to check it to ensure it is secure."

Naruto simply lifted his shirt, revealing the Shiki Fuin; still glowing a deep red. Sarutobi was taken aback, the seal was freshly sealed. Not only that, but it was exactly as it was the night of the sealing, when Jiraiya and himself had checked over it. There were no signs of the usual seal decay that should have been there, and the decay that had already been there. He needed to exactly what had happened.

"ANBU you are dismissed, and shall return to your normal duties. Everything you have seen here is an S-ranked secret, the punishment for revealing it is, as a result, death. Naruto is exempt from this." And with that he turned to Naruto. "Unfortunately we need to talk in my office before you do anything else. I know you want to go see Iruka, but it will have to wait. I am certain you understand how serious this situation was, and still is." Sarutobi looked over the boy's tattered clothing, before adding, "You have half an hour to get a change of clothes if you wish."

"Sure, jiji."


	3. An S-Ranked Mission

Sarutobi studied the portfolio open in front of him incredibly carefully. Inside lay the the images and profiles of some of his most capable, and perhaps more importantly, his most trusted Shinobi. Should there be a mission of high importance, these were the ninja that would be called upon to do it. Of course there were a range of skill levels and abilities, from Umino Iruka to Hatake Kakashi; just about every possible mission or task that needed to be undertaken was covered. These were truly his 'best of the best'.

However, the latest task that would be assigned to one of these exceptional shinobi was proving to be particularly hard to match a profile to. It was to be a long term mission of the highest importance, and therefore would be S-ranked. meaning the mission details would be off limits to all but Sarutobi himself and the ninja undertaking the mission. Normally, this kind of mission would be left to the likes of Kakashi, or some of the especially high ranking ANBU. However, the cycloptic Jonin was due to take a Genin team in precisely a week, so he was out of the running. Not only that, but this mission was of extreme importance to the Sandaime himself; and as much as it pained the veteran Hokage to admit it, there were too few ANBU that he could fully trust, to be able to use one of the higher ranked for this mission.

He had narrowed down his choices to two candidates. They were both Tonkubetsu Jonin rank, one was still part of ANBU, the other part of the Interrogation and Torture department. Both were of adequate ability to fill out the role, however as memories of both candidates began to fill his mind, one candidate in particular began to stand out from the other.

A slight smile found it way onto Sarutobi's face as he rose from the chair in his office. He would have the shinobi summoned immediately.

\------

Uzumaki Naruto however, had a very different dilemma. After his brief conversation with the Sandaime about the events of the previous night, he had been informed that the formation of Genin teams was being held back by a month. This would normally have outraged Naruto, but after that nights events; even he was had reached the limit of his stamina, and therefore the consequences of that particular announcement were not realised until midway through his breakfast.

Of course, the 'realisation' had not been subtle, and as a consequence he was now being 'forced' to eat breakfast at Ichiraku's. Also, if anyone were to ask if he knew anything about the Hokage's underwear being dyed orange... It wasn't him. He wasn't even there, Okay?

The delay in the creation of the Genin teams left him with absolutely nothing to do for a whole month, besides having to meet with the Hokage in the afternoon. And possibly again once the orange underwear he had nothing to do with was discovered. It didn't take him long to set his sights on what he wanted to do. Train. And then train some more. But that led to another problem, what should he focus on. While he was confident of his skills, he wasn't arrogant enough to believe that he didn't have any faults. His jutsu range was decidedly poor compared to the rest of the graduates. Most of the clan heirs had training in their family jutsu as well as the academy jutsu, even Sakura had a few genjutsu to her name. Not to mention he had no formal taijutsu style to speak of. He knew the katas to the academy style, and could perform them reasonably well. But despite this, every time he tried to spar using the style, he couldn't seem to get the movements to flow together.

Whilst he could try and learn some jutsu, or a taijutsu style, these things required a teacher. He would need to find someone who not only was willing to actually teach him, but someone who had the time. The only person who could fit the bill was Iruka-sensei, who had already thrown himself back into teaching at the academy. But Naruto knew what his reply would be should he ask him. Iruka would simply tell him he had to improve his basic knowledge and skills before he could be taught the more advanced things he craved to learn.

This led Naruto to a conclusion that he had been trying to avoid, he would have to go back and learn the basics. The blonde let out a groan in between mouthfuls. This was exactly what he had been so happy to get away from, all the boring reading; he couldn't see the point. Stuff from books can't be that important for being a ninja. That stuff was for posers like Sasuke who cared about class rankings. But then a thought crossed his mind.

His Father. The Yondaime had graduated top of his class, and two years early on top of that. Which would have meant that he would have had to have been really good at everything. Even the book stuff. His Father had told that he was proud, but would he still be proud if he could see him now? Still in denial about one of his most glaring faults? Naruto stood up as he finished his last mouthful of ramen. He had promised more than once to surpass all the previous Hokages, including his own Father, and he wasn't going to stop until he had. And besides, since when did Uzumaki Naruto break his promises?

\-----

Uzuki Yuugao was staring open mouthed at the Hokage. An S-ranked mission? She had never been on a mission ranked as high as that, even with ANBU. And the Hokage had already told her that it would be solo and outside of ANBU, which meant it would go on her official record and be public knowledge that she had completed such a mission. She didn't know whether to be ecstatic or terrified.

"Now Yuugao-san, I would suppose that you are wondering what your mission objectives are. Correct?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama" Yuugao nodded slowly as she spoke, her anticipation gradually rising the longer the Hokage drew out the conversation.

"Before I state the mission objectives, I want to let you know that this mission is of great importance to the village as well as being of great personal importance to me."

Yuugao visibly gulped, she couldn't fail this mission. She would give her life for both the village, and Sarutobi, many times over.

"Your mission, is to firstly train Uzumaki Naruto for the next month. This will go down as one S-ranked assignment in itself. For the second part of this mission, you are to protect Uzumaki Naruto whilst he is both in and outside of this village. Any questions before I proceed to explain the mission parameters in more detail?"

This was not what she had been expecting. She naturally wouldn't say no, not after the emphasis the Sandaime had placed on its importance. She also knew why she had been selected to undertake this mission. She had already spent six years in ANBU protecting the child, and had formed some kind of attatchment to him, even though they had never actually met face to face. But, she suspected the reasoning behind choosing her was more to do with the fact that she bore no grudges against the boy. Not to mention the fact that she had noticed similarities between Naruto and a certain village leader, and when confronted the Sandaime had simply said,

'What a ridiculous suggestion. And even if it was true, such information would be an S-ranked secret.'

It wasn't the words the Hokage had spoken that gave it away, but rather the ten foot grin he wore where his mouth should have been.

Despite this, she had her doubts. She had never taught before, and had no idea how she would go about it. Not only that, but she didn't have a clue what Naruto's ability level was and so had no idea what she should teach him.

"Hokage-sama, what exactly would I be expected to teach Uzumaki-san?"

"Ah, I will explain that when I talk about the mission parameters in more detail. Was that your only question?"

Yuugao nodded once more, and the Hokage smiled. He was giving her plenty of time to turn down the mission, but she showed no sign of wishing to say no.

"So for the first part of the mission you will be expected to tutor Uzumaki Naruto for the coming month. Currently, his academy report states that his skills are way below average in most of the shinobi arts. He has not been able to learn any taijutsu style, his ninjutsu is non-existent and genjutsu is completely out of his reach due to awful chakra control. Finally, his basic academic knowledge is quite frankly appalling." Sarutobi breathed out slowly before continuing.

"However, he has an incredible amount of chakra at his disposal. And his notorious ability to prank, and evade capture display his aptitude for on the spot planning and strategising. On top of that, last night as you know; he broke into the Hokage Tower, evaded countless ANBU scrolls and escaped with one of the most highly guarded treasures here. What you may not know however is that he mastered a B-ranked Kinjutsu in under an hour."

Yuugao had to prevent herself from gaping at the last sentence. It was absolutely incredible that a twelve year old academy student could pull that off, especially one considered a 'dead-last'.

"Now Yuugao-san, what does that tell you about the academy reports?"

"It could mean that they are outright wrong, which is highly unlikely. Or, it could mean that Uzumaki-san education was being intentionally stunted."

Sarutobi nodded grimly at the conclusion he had reached the night before.

"Now I understand that is far too much for you to cover in one month. So instead of working on his most glaring faults and weaknesses, I want you to work on giving him am advantage, much like a clan technique would. The B-ranked kinjutsu Naruto learnt was the Kage Bunshin. I believe that with a certain amount of thought and consideration, the use of Kage Bunshin in conjunction with his almost limitless chakra supply, could be utilised to create a taijutsu style that is both unique and lethal."

Yuugao nodded in understanding. With the blonde's chakra capacity, using a highly co-ordinated Kage Bunshin taijutsu style would not only be plausible, but should the correct amounts of time and effort be put in, it was potentially devastating.

"Should we be aiming to turn this into a formal, recorded style, Hokage-sama?"

"That is mostly up to Naruto, as it would be his own style." The Sandaime replied before adding, "although, it would be useful for later on if that were to happen"

"How about Nin or Genjutsu?"

The Hokage paused before answering, looking slightly reluctant.

"Whilst I would love to be able to indulge the boy in Ninjutsu, I feel that most would be out of his reach because of his poor chakra control. As a result, I believe that is the other thing I want you to work on with him. Work on getting his control up to par. There is a large probability his Sensei will be Hatake Kakashi".

Yuugao's eyes widened slightly in understanding. Kakashi was renowned for his mastery in ninjutsu making him the perfect teacher for that area; but there was more to it than that, the Sandaime was giving Kakashi the chance to teach his sensei's son.

"Moving on to the second mission objective, the protection of Uzumaki Naruto both inside and out of the village. Normally with Kakashi his sensei, this wouldn't be necessary. However, later today I have a meeting with Naruto. There I will discuss whether or not he wishes to release information with regards to his heritage. Should it be decided that the information will be released to the general public, Naruto will become a target."

Yuugao was stunned. Iwa and Kumo were both famous for their disdain for the Yellow Flash, and they alone were a significant threat. This was before you counted the endless enemies the Yondaime made amongst the criminal underworld.

"However, this is a separate mission from training Naruto. I have two other candidates who I trust enough to carry this out. If you are to accept this mission, I will require your commitment in improving your own skills, in order to be able to combat any threats that come Naruto's way." The Hokage paused before looking straight into Yuugao's eyes.

"Do you accept the S-ranked assignment of training Uzumaki Naruto? You will be paid accordingly throughout the duration of the mission. Also, as it is an S-ranked mission, the details are confidential to all but you and myself." The Sandaime asked, his voice taking on a commanding tone that didn't quite fit the aging man behind the desk.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Yuugao replied, slightly unnerved by the fact his gaze never once wavered as she answered.

"Do you also accept the long term assignment of protecting Uzumaki Naruto from harm until otherwise stated by the current Hokage? You will be paid for a long term S-ranked assignment, and a special commendation will appear on your record upon completion."

It took Yuugao slightly longer to answer the Kage this time, but in truth she had already made up her mind.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I accept"


	4. Meeting With the Hokage

Naruto sat outside the Hokage's office anxiously fidgeting, seemingly unable to be still for more than a second. He was waiting for the Sandaime's current appointment to finish, so he could talk to him further about his heritage and the Kyuubi. All that had been said the previous night was merely confirming what Naruto had already found out from his Father. The Sandaime was especially adamant that the blonde knew he absolutely was in no way, the Kyuubi itself.

However, the Hokage had left him both confused and worried about what was going to happen in this meeting. The old man had spent the entire time the previous night, going from looking downright angry to incredibly sad, as Naruto recounted the events of that night, and the reasons behind his thoughts at the time. Although the blonde didn't quite understand why the Sandaime was reacting to his explanation in the way he was, this wasn't what troubled him the most. It was what the Hokage had said as the meeting finished. It was after he had been dismissed and wished a good night, and was on his way out of office, just closing the heavy double doors behind him as he left when he heard the Sandaime mumble in an unusually serious tone.

"There are going to be some long overdue changes in this village. I wont stand for the blatant defilement of a hero's dying wishes any longer."

Initially, Naruto began to conjure up thoughts of the Sandaime ordering the execution of 'The Demon'. But as quickly as the thought had slithered into his mind, it was crushed by his own faith in the old man. Regardless, it was a fairly ominous statement and it had Naruto wondering at the possibilities.

Fortunately, he was not left to wonder for very long, as his thoughts were interrupted by the tell-tale creaking of the the Hokage's office doors. Naruto looked up in curiosity, to catch a glampse of the person that the Hokage had been having such a long meeting with, and was immediately drawn to the woman's striking purple hair. He could tell she was a shinobi, both by the Hitai-ate strapped round her left bicep, and the pure white grip of a katana emerging from behind her right shoulder.

She noticed him looking, and smiled at him as she walked, causing Naruto to double take.. It was relatively unheard of for a citizen of Konoha that he never met before to smile at him as they passed. In fact, he was pretty sure only Iruka-sensei and the Hokage had done that before.

So surprised was he, that by the time he had gathered his thoughts enough to smile back, the woman had already passed by. However before he could dwell on it, he heard a familiar voice beckon him into the office. He got up, and put on his best grin to hide his slight anxiety.

Yuugao couldn't prevent the frown from appearing on her face, after seeing Naruto outside of the Hokage's office. He was so taken surprised just because she smiled at him? It wasn't right.

She couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of guilt at the fact that she hadn't done anymore for him, especially even after she had worked out who his parents were. She could only hope that Kushina-sensei would forgive her.

"But Oji-san, I thought you said it was a secret?"

"It was made a secret for your own protection. Your Father had made many enemies as the Yellow Flash, and most would still be eager to take a shot at him through his only child. However, you are now a Genin, and about to move on to the next stage of your shinobi training where you will be under the supervision of an experienced Jonin. This should deter most potential threats." The Sandaime explained, his eyes monitoring Naruto's reaction carefully.

Naruto frowned. It would mean that finally, he had some chance of at least partially gaining the acceptance he had craved for as long as he could remember. A large part of him was screaming for him to say yes to the Hokage that moment, and bask in any new-found acceptance. However an even larger part had another concern about revealing his heritage.

"I dunno. I wanna say yes, so I can get the village to recognise me as the super awesome ninja I am,-" The Sandaime had to bit back a slight chuckle, but could not prevent a warm grin from making it's way across his face. "But, I wouldn't feel like I earned it."

Sarutobi had to stop his mouth from hanging at that. He hadn't expected that at all from Naruto. Ironically, considering who his Father was, and his experiences with the child so far, he should have known better.

"Naruto, you have more than earned a little acknowledgement from Konoha. The way you have been treated since you were born is unacceptable, yet you have weathered anything thrown at you with a smile and a promise to change their opinions. Not once have you shown anger or aggression towards any citizen no matter how much you were provoked. Case in point, I know exactly why you wear that jumpsuit Naruto. And you know it's not because of the colour."

The blonde opened his mouth to argue that orange was a kick-ass colour, which he truly believed; but a stern look from the Hokage told him that the old man already knew the other reason Naruto wore the poor excuse for a shinobi outfit. Whilst no-one had been outright violent against him, that didn't stop people from trying. The stupid ones were dealt with by ANBU; however, a more subtle form of causing the blonde harm was concocted. Rather than outright attack him, they sabotaged his chances as shinobi. Academy teachers damaged his learning, and poor quality gear was sold to Naruto intentionally. He wasn't aware of the majority of this, as it was well under the radar so to speak.

One man, however was not quite so sly. He refused to serve Naruto the clothes he wanted to buy outright, and instead presented him with the jumpsuit. Telling him "Maybe a foreign shinobi will use you for kunai practice! Wearing that thing there'll be nowhere to run and no way to hide!" Naruto had typically retorted with all his normal brashness and bravado, and had stubbornly refused to wear anything else. He would 'be so good, I won't need to run or hide!'

Despite his words, what the man said had hurt. It still did, yet he refused to give up on proving the man wrong. He stole a glance up at the Sandaime only to go back to staring at the floor in a split second. The old man was still looking at him with that knowing look, just daring him to argue. He didn't know how the Hokage knew about that, let alone seen through his bravado; but he did, and he had, and Naruto could find no way of arguing with the Sandaime before the elderly Kage resumed speaking.

"Besides, I know you're intelligent enough to realise that the entire village will not miraculously grant you their unconditional adoration. More likely, it would mostly level the playing field so to speak. Rather than outright dislike you, you would have the opportunity to earn the villages respect."

Naruto frowned as he leant back in his chair. He couldn't argue with the Sandaime on any of his points; yet he didn't feel particularly comfortable thinking about what the old man was suggesting. It felt far too much like cheating. Naruto nearly sighed again before realising just how much he would sound like Sasuke if he did. Eventually, he came to a decision. He looked straight into the Hokage's eyes, and nodded cautiously before speaking.

"Okay Oji-san, if you think that's what I should do then I trust you. We'll tell the village about my Father on one condition..."

Sarutobi couldn't prevent the surprise from showing on his face, as Naruto yet again came out with the unexpected. He subconsciously edged to the edge of his seat as he awaited Naruto's terms.

"...You have to promise to hand over that hat! And...treat me to all the ramen I can eat at Ichiraku's!"

The Hokage instinctively palmed his wallet, and clutched it protectively, before an idea formed in his mind.

"But Naruto, if I were to make you Hokage now; you would be too busy doing boring paperwork to train with the new sensei I found for you..."

The blonde's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets at the Sandaime's words. If he was getting a sensei, the that would mean Jutsu! Real, kick-ass Jutsu like shooting fireballs or making lightning shoot from his fingers! But then he had another thought, as he remembered his time at the ramen stand earlier that day. His taijutsu was shocking, as was his overall ninjutsu. However, he had already realised that despite his wishes to learn more techniques, he needed more basic knowledge about chakra and more practise with seals before he could really start to learn jutsu, and even then it would be slow.

A sensei would be able to help him with taijutsu forms and katas, and before meeting with the Hokage he had already spoken to Iruka about having one to one lessons to improve his knowledge. Once he had gotten on par with the other children, then, was when he could begin to learn the awesome jutsu that he wanted.

Sarutobi watched the young shinobi before him go through the motions in his mind, seemingly having forgotten that the Hokage was even there. Naruto had obviously done some heavy thinking about his skills since the previous night's run-in with Mizuki. The Hokage was already aware of his new arrangement with Iruka, which both surprised and pleased him in equal measure. And as he watched Naruto force back his obvious excitement at the opportunity to learn new jutsu (a craving Sarutobi recognised well after having trained both Jiraiya and Orochimaru), and truly think about the training he actually needed, he couldn't help but feel proud that the growth that the boy was showing.

"Ah, I thought you might be interested in that piece of news. You're new sensei is to train you up for the next month in preparation for your placement into a genin cell." The Hokage watched as Naruto's levels of excitement began to rise once more. "You will meet, and begin working with your new sensei in three days time, as she needs adequate time to prepare a schedule for you."

"She?" Naruto asked, obviously slightly put out that they could not get started right away.

"Yes Naruto, a she. Her name is Uzuki Yuugao and she is an ex-ANBU operative, which means she is incredibly skilled and not to be taken lightly, understand?"

The blonde nodded, slightly awed by what the Hokage had just told him.

"Now then, we will discuss the details of revealing you parentage later on. You are to meet Yuugao at Training Ground 56 in three days. In the mean time, I believe you have an appointment with a certain academy teacher to be getting to..."

Sarutobi chuckled out loud as Naruto hurriedly excused himself and rushed out of his office, nearly flattening the secretary on the way out.

"Hokage-sama, it's word from one of Jiraiya-sama's toads."

The brunette stepped aside as a small toad hopped from behind her into the room, and left, shutting the doors behind her. Sarutobi turned his gaze to the amphibian, indicating for it to speak.

"Jiraiya says he is returning home to meet with you personally. It's about Uzumaki Naruto."

Sarutobi's eyes widened as the he heard the toads next words.

"Uzumaki Naruto...and Iwagakure."

\-----

Two Days Later...

Naruto sniggered as he laid on his back atop the Hokage monument, or more specifically, atop the head of one Namikaze Minato. It wasn't that he wanted to skip his appointment with Iruka today, it's just that he was absolutely certain that if he spent another minute listening to the scarred Chunin speak about the history of the hidden villages, he would hang himself on the spot. Two days, and three appointments was all it had taken to drive Naruto to this point. Iruka had started him right at the beginning of the academy curriculum, and had him work through it steadily. They were currently about half way through the first year, and already Naruto had cracked.

He had created a shadow clone to attend the lesson (not before violently dispelling two, who initially outright refused to do as they were told), whilst he had a day off to train and relax. He casually rose to his feet, and stretched slowly before trying to decide what to do next. Maybe he would head to the training ground he was supposed to meet his new sensei, so he didn't get lost trying to fi-

The blonde hissed at the pain that flared in his head, as his brain flooded with memories that didn't belong to him. Why did Iruka-sensei have to hit him on the head for? All he had done was pretend to fall asleep as he was talking about how the Nidaime Mizukage fought against the Sandaime, and lost because the Sandaime used his monkey summon...

Naruto's eyes widened as he realised exactly where that memory had come from.


	5. The Secret of Kage Bunshin

Naruto was frozen in place, shell-shocked as the possibilities of his new discovery rushed about in his mind. He had gained the actual memories of his clone! The first idea that came to his head was naturally, training. He quickly wondered if he not only gained the memories, but the experience of the clones created by the Kage Bunshin. Would it work to improve his chakra control? Could he use it to help with the physical side of training.

Or was it simply memories, that he could use to study, without actually needing to personally study? Would it work with more than one clone at a time? He grinned widely as he placed his hands in the ram seal to experiment.

"Kage Bunshin no-" The jutsu was interrupted as Naruto felt a hand grab him by the ear and begin to drag him away from the Hokage Monument, literally kicking and screaming. "Gaah! What the hell?" He cried as he fought to gain a look at his assailant.

"'What the hell' is right!" What the hell were you doing sending a Bunshin to our appointment Naruto? I had your word that you wouldn't let me down!"

Naruto had no reply. Iruka-sensei was right. He had promised to take the lessons seriously, and he had broken that promise. It went against everything Naruto stood for. Not only had he broken a promise, it had been to one of the few people that truly cared about him, and Naruto had repaid that by betraying his trust.

The Chunin looked down at the blonde in front of him, staring at the ground dejectedly. He could quite plainly see that Naruto felt mortified about what he had done, Iruka had worded his accusation specifically to produce that result. Naruto needed to take this seriously, in order to be even slightly equal with the rest of the graduates. Even so, he couldn't help but feel guilty looking at the child he had come to see as something of a younger brother. He sighed out loud. He must be losing his ruthless streak as a shinobi from spending so much time at the academy.

"Listen, don't worry about it. We'll just go back now and cover the stuff again. And if you finish it all, I may just take you to Ichiraku's afterwards." Iruka watched the boy visibly perk up, before grinning as if he knew something that the Chunin didn't.

"Well, about that Iruka-sensei. I just found out something cool about the Kage Bunshin...

The Konoha Shinobi Library was completely abuzz with activity. Inside, in the Novice and Academy Student Section. A dozen orange blurs bounced from shelf to shelf, gathering up books that appeared useful. One solitary figure, was directing the veritable army of orange.

"You heard the boss! Look for the books that Iruka-sensei recommended. Three of you take stuff about chakra, three of you take history, three of you take the basic shinobi skills and the last group take basic strategy and tactics."

Even though he was answered with a chorus of grumbles and complaints, the clone that the original Naruto had left in charge was impressed with how impressive the clones were. If this worked as well as he thought it would, Iruka-sensei told him he could probably cover the entire academy curriculum in only a week! Originally, he was going to use more clones, but Iruka-sensei was really insistent that using loads of bunshin must have some negative side-effects, and he should ask the Hokage before using any more than the dozen he currently was.

Despite this, the clone was certain that the amount being used at the moment was enough to get the job done. He watched as the clones conquered the study tables in the room, and got to work, each taking a book from the enormous pile they had collected. Once satisfied the clones were working as they should, he turned to his attention to his own small pile of reading.

Whilst Naruto had pushed ninjutsu down on his list of priorities, it was still eternally fascinating to him. The things that could be accomplished were beyond belief, and even though Naruto knew he needed to improve heavily in other areas before he could begin to learn justu, he was still curious.

So, as soon as he thought Iruka-sensei wasn't paying attention one clone was henged into a perfect copy of the Chunin and given orders to look in the area reserved for Chunin for basic ninjutsu scrolls. As a result this clone now held a selection of C-rank ninjutsu scrolls, and the task of committing as many as possible to memory so they could be learnt when he was ready.

The clone took a look at the pile before him, and picked a scroll at random.

'C-Rank: Fuuton Techniques'

The clone frowned slightly. It wasn't exactly as cool as fireball and lightning bolts, but there had to be something cool in there somewhere right?

Iruka couldn't help but be impressed at the possibilities of the Kage Bunshin that Naruto had uncovered. It was a pity more Konoha shinobi didn't have the chakra capacity that Naruto had so that the Kage Bunshin could be utilised correctly. After visiting the Hokage with Naruto about his discovery, they had decided to keep with a maximum of a dozen clones, much to Naruto's frustration.

But in turn Iruka had conceded to allow him to use the clones to study, whilst Naruto focused on something else. The clones would work independently, but were under orders to dispel themselves if they encountered something that they didn't understand, or had a question. That way the original would be able to ask Iruka for help. They were also to periodically dispel at different intervals, both to ensure that they wouldn't run out of chakra, and also to prevent an information overload from dispelling them all at the end of the day, a danger the Sandaime had warned them of.

Iruka and the original Naruto had decided that since the clones were studying in his place the two could work on something else. The pair had decided that since Naruto was going to be working with a new Sensei the following day, they wouldn't work on anything that would impose on any plans they would have for taijutsu or ninjutsu. As a result, the two were standing in the academy training grounds, having decided to work on chakra control.

"Naruto, I presume you're able to do the leaf exercise?" Iruka chuckled as Naruto nodded indignantly, outraged at what Iruka was implying. Iruka just smiled before he continued. "Well then, what we are going to do is a simplified version of a ANBU training exercise." Naruto watched curiously as Iruka produced a bag of ping-pong balls.

"Now, what I'm going do is throw several of these balls to you, and all you have to do is use chakra to catch them, and 'stick' them to you. The exercise gets harder and harder, the more balls I throw. We can treat it like a game, keep count of the amount of balls you can stick to you at once. Once you can stick five balls to you at once, I'll buy you one bowl of Ichiraku's. Once you can do ten, I'll buy you a second and so on. If you can make thirty by the end of the week I'll teach you a jutsu. Understand what you have to do?"

Naruto nodded eagerly. He could almost taste that Ramen, not to mention the fact he had the chance to learn a new jutsu. How hard could it be?

The blonde looked at Iruka, signalling that he was ready, and focused on the incoming ball and focused his chakra to his hand as the ball made contact. He grinned widely as the ball didn't fall to the ground. See! Easy right? He held up his other hand and began to focus his chakra in preparation for the second ball...

Only for him to lose control of the amount of chakra he was channelling to keep hold of the first, and the ball to propel away from his hand. In his dismay, he completely forgot the second ball, which bounced off of his forehead and dropped in front of his feet.

Yep. Definitely easy...

\------

The Next Day

Naruto couldn't keep the smile off of his face as he headed towards Training Ground 56. Naruto had spent a long time exploring the village as a child, and as such knew that the training grounds were numbered for their purpose. Training grounds one through ten were strictly for Genin teams to use, eleven through twenty were generally used for ninjutsu and taijutsu, as well as sparring and twenty-one through thirty are for weapons practise. After that, the training grounds up to fifty were all reserved for environmental training, the most notorious being Training Ground 44. Otherwise known as The Forest of Death.

However, the remaining eight Training Grounds were all indoors and guarded by Chunin level shinobi. Because of this, Naruto had never actually seen inside of them, and therefore had no idea what to expect from his new sensei. The fact that what was done inside the grounds was kept secret and guarded was sure to mean that he was going to be doing something completely awesome, at least in his opinion. Which had him terribly excited to find out what he would be learning.

Suddenly, he felt a slight twinge in the back of his mind as clone's memories entered his mind. Naruto's grin spread slightly wider. His clone had finally fully memorised one of the jutsu from the Fuuton scroll. Fuuton: Goukuuhou. It looked completely kick-ass on paper, the only disadvantage being a slightly longer than usual seal sequence. The last three seals were used to keep what the dangerous wind chakra from damaging the user's mouth. This however, was something that Naruto could work around with practise.

What wasn't so easily workable was the fact his chakra control was still too poor for him to learn any C-rank jutsu. He had asked Iruka the previous day, what level should his chakra control be at for him to be able to learn a C-rank jutsu properly. Iruka-sensei had said that he should be able to 'stick' thirty balls consistently before he could use a C-rank jutsu to it's maximum potential; which was why he had offered to teach Naruto a jutsu should he manage to get that far before the end of the week. It was only Monday, and as the blonde managed to get the hang of the excersise, he had steadily begun to progress. He had managed seven by the time they had decided to call it a day, and Iruka-sensei had promised him another control exercise to practice alongside the first, once he had finished his training with Yuugao.

The blonde picked up his pace as the indoor training grounds came into view. They were enormous buildings, tucked away on the eastern side of Konoha, out of the way of the rest of the village. They were semi-circular in shape, and the roof appeared to be corrugated iron. All in all, they were as formidable as he remembered them being, even though he was years older.

He slowed to a walk as he approached number 56. He showed the Chunin guarding the building's only entrance the vivid red permission slip, and continued on through the door. Once inside, the soon-to-be Genin, couldn't prevent a gasp from escaping his lips at what he saw. The floor was lined with lush looking synthetic grass that looked and felt entirely real. The only give away being how entirely perfectly kept it was, considering that this was a training ground. Over to his left was a small lake, with a small waterfall running down a rockface which was gradually collecting algae. On his right, the grass abruptly came to an end about twenty metres away, and in it's place was a barren looking landscape decorated by several rock formations. The blonde child couldn't help but whistle at the scale of his surroundings.

"It's impressive isn't it?" Naruto whirled around to confront the voice, that seemed to have come from behind him; only to be confronted with the purple haired woman he had seen leave the Hokage's office a few days before-hand.

"Uzuki Yuugao. A pleasure to meet you."


	6. The Beginnings of Training

Previously:

"It's impressive isn't it?" Naruto whirled around to confront the voice, that seemed to have come from behind him; only to be confronted with the purple haired woman he had seen leave the Hokage's office a few days before-hand.

"Uzuki Yuugao. A pleasure to meet you."

Naruto paused panting slightly, whilst uncharacteristically considering his next move. His new Sensei was good. Like, really good. They had been sparring for around twenty minutes now and he hadn't managed to land even one hit on the the woman. She was relentless too. Constantly pushing him, probing him for weaknesses in his form and forcing mistakes from him every time he went on the offensive. And not a single error or slip in his defences went unpunished either. Every time he presented an opening it was ruthlessly taken advantage of. Quite frankly he was running out of ideas, and already he could feel the slow onset of fatigue; a relatively alien feeling, and one that he hadn't been forced to experience too many times before.

Uzuki Yuugao, on the oher hand had an entirely diferent train of thoughts. On the outside, the polite smile she seemingly always wore when her face was not covered by an ANBU mask, was kept firmly in place; refusing to slip as she seamlessly blocked aloppy attack after sloppy attack from the blonde in front of her. It was a wonderfully easy way of masking her emotions, as the smile fitted her physique and demeanor perfectly. Whilst wearing that smile she was the docile, polite and kind girl that never had a bad word to say about anybody that was constantly underestimated by enemy shinobi.

After all, how could a harmless little girl like her be a capable shinobi?

That of course was before the enemy realised that same 'harmless little girl' had just driven a katana through their chest cavity, brutally puncturing a lung before leaving them to drown in their own blood.

So it was fair to say that over her relatively long (for a shinobi, anyway) career, she had perfected that smile and mastered it, until it was just as much of a weapon as her katana. This of course meant that she was incredibly good at keeping that smile from cracking due to her emotions, no matter how strong they were.

And make no mistake, despite the frustratingly placid smile she religiously worked to maintain as she sparred Naruto, Uzuki Yuugao was furious. So furious in fact, that the smile had on more than one occasion nearly fell from it's place as she carefully analysed the blonde's movements. It was blindingly obvious to her, that he had been sabotaged. The taijutsu he was using was sloppy, almost like a street brawler as opposed to a shinobi. But it was not down to him not having memorised the forms he had been taught, or that he had not worked hard enough to make what he had learnt instinctive. His combat instinct wsa spot on too. He recognised the makings of attacks very quickly and instantly moved to counter. Only to find that he could not move in the way he wanted to, or that his body was in the wrong position to defend himself.

His taijutsu was as butchered as the Academy records told her. But it had not been butchered by Naruto. All the signs were there, she could see where the 'corrections' to the standard Academy forms had taken place. Things that would seem unimportant to Naruto as he learnt in practise, but they were things that in combat could mean the difference between life and death. Things like how his left foot was angled ten degrees further right than it should have been, preventing him from being able to pivot effectively.

It was quite monstrous really. They had actively altered Naruto's taijutsu in order to get him killed in the field, and she was willing to bet most of Naruto's other deficiencies could be put down to sabotage. However, this left an entirely new problem. Naruto had worked incredibly hard to make these forms almost instinct, just as he should have done. Which now meant he was going to have to un-learn it, which was both a difficult and time-consuming process. He would have to practise anything she taught him, use it in spars, until it became more instinctual than what he had already learnt.

"Okay, Naruto-san. You may stop now, I have seen enough." Yuugao said, as she eyed the slightly winded boy in front of her. His stamina was good, but clearly needed work on.

"Yuugao-sensei, you don't need to bother with all that formal stuff. I don't really like it all that much."

"But Uzumaki-san, that would be improper..." She answered, eliciting a loud groan from the blonde. "...But if you insist, then I will stick to Naruto for the moment." She paused, waiting for the boy to realise she had been teasing him, and continued just as he figured it out. "Now then what did you think of our little spar?"

The blonde in front of her didn't need too long to come up with an answer.

"Well my taijutsu sucks, I couldn't land a hit on you! I was too slow to react every time you attacked, I could tell you were gunna, and then well... I couldn't move into the right position to do anything about it!"

"You're actually more right than you realise. You're basic form is all wrong, and it is preventing your body from reacting as quickly as you want it to. I was fighting at a Genin level, you should have been able to do much better."

"But I made sure my forms were all right! I spent ages with the taijutsu instructor getting them right!" Naruto protested angrily.

"I'm sure you did Naruto. Tell me, who was you're taijutsu instructor at the academy?" Yuugao prompted, already having guessed the answer.

"It was Mizu-" Naruto stopped as the realisation hit him. Mizuki had intentionally messed up his taijutsu! All because of that bastard fox! The voice of Yuugao-sensei distracted him from his thoughts, and he turned his attention to what she was saying.

"Don't worry too much about it Naruto. This is why I'm here remember. Perhaps I had better tell you about the secret purpose of these guarded training grounds."

Naruto perked up instantly, he had been curious about why they had come here as opposed to one of the other, easier to access grounds.

"These grounds are used by shinobi for one of two reasons. Firstly, they are used by small clans who do not have private training grounds, in order to secretly practise their family techniques. Secondly, they are used by shinobi who are developing their own techniques and need to field test them in secret to prevent others from stealing or copying them. In a village that used to have dojutsu such as the Sharingan, areas such as these became a necessity to ensure privacy."

Naruto's eyes widened as he caught on to what his new sensei was telling him.

"So, after realising that it would be incredibly difficult to find an existing style that would suit you; the Hokage decided that I would help you come up with a style unique to you. Hence, the secret training grounds. We can't have any one stealing your work now, can we?"

Naruto shook his head furiously in disagreement.

His own, totally unique taijutsu style? Yuugao-sensei was awesome!

\-----

The Sandaime breathed out a steady stream of smoke as he contemplated how one Uzumaki Naruto was getting along with his new sensei. He had already been impressed with Naruto's progress over the past three days. He had discovered the secret behind the Kage Bunshin on the very first day, and had used it incredibly effectively to catch up on what he had missed on the academy. Thus, he had been able to use his time with Iruka to improve his chakra control.

He had also been impressed with the amount of maturity that Naruto had shown. He had identified his weakest areas; and had, if somewhat reluctantly, worked furiously to improve himself. But that was not all. Naruto was still twelve years old, and ninjutsu was still ninjutsu. The Hokage had of course been aware of the blonde's extra-curricular ninjutsu studies, and had seen how the boy had not only limited himself to C-rank techniques and resisted the urge to head straight for A-ranks jutsu; but he had done nothing more that memorise what he read, until he had developed the appropriate control for the jutsu in question.

Fuuton: Goukuuhou, a C-rank wind technique developed by Sarutobi Asuma. However what is not commonly know was that the Yondaime, had spent an entire year just before he became Hokage with various shinobi of note, developing ninjutsu with them. Asuma had been, one of those shinobi Minato had worked with, and Fuuton: Goukuuhou was the only C-rank jutsu the duo had come up with; instead focusing on producing a slew of A-rank Fuuton jutsu. It was practically his birthright to learn it.

"I've just seen something very interesting at Training Ground 56."

Sarutobi looked up tiredly to see his student jumping down from his usual perch on the window.

"Ah, Jiraiya. You finally came."

\-----

"What the hell is the point of this again?" The Naruto clone grumbled, his hands fixed into the single ram seal required from the Kage Bunshin.

"You understand the basis of the style we're going to try to create, correct?" Yuugao questioned, patience not faltering, despite the fact that this wasn't the first time one of the Kage Bunshin she was working with had complained.

"Yeah, it's going to be based on using pairs of Kage Bunshin to create a flexible and maneuverable style that combines power, speed and unpredictability." The clone replied in a sing-song voice, almost as if it was reading from a book.

"Correct. Now, how much control do you have over where your Kage Bunshin appear?"

"Almost none." The clone answered, knowing it had already been defeated. He watched as Yuugao's grin became slightly smug.

"Control over when and where your Bunshin appear is vitally important for this to work. That is where you come in, you are to practice focusing on where the bunshin appear in relation to the original. The second clone, is working on being able to delay how quickly the bunshin appears, allowing for even more unpredictability, a key element to the style you are trying to create."

The Bunshin muttered and grumbled under his breath, and whilst Yuugao suspected what was said wasn't exactly polite, the clone got back to work, focus, at least momentarily, renewed.

She glanced over to the original Yuugao, who was working with another slightly larger group of energetic blondes, teaching pairs of them a single 'set move'. This was the term she gave to the fundamental movements in almost all taijutsu styles, basic punches kicks and blocks; the building blocks of hand to hand combat. Naturally, he took to this far easier than he did perfecting the nuances of the Kage Bunshin, it's benefits were far more apparent. All the same, it was astonishing how quickly he learned when he set his mind to it.

\------

"You're seriously thinking about putting on a team with Kakashi and the Uchiha?" The Sannin inquired, as if the mere suggestion of doing so was entirely ludicrous.

"It's the best team for him. We can't break up other, cohesive units just for Naruto's benefit. It would destroy their functionality. Where else would he fit Jiraiya?" the Hokage questioned, an unusual glint in his eye; as if he had just come up with something thoroughly cunning and evil. By the way he was openly smirking at him, Jiraiya wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"Sensei, Uchiha Sasuke is an exact mirror of my bastard of a team mate. I would bet all the smut in the world on him going the same way. Itachi wasn't even half as arrogant as that kid is, that in itself kills any chances of those two developing any kind of teamwork. Sure, Naruto would try and form a bond, but the Uchiha would never reciprocate it in the same way. On top of that, you've got Kakashi'. He's under duress from the grizzled old bastard Danzou, as well as half of the damned village; to focus on Sasuke, even at the expense of his other team-mates. It's not the kids fault, and i know all too well that he chomping at the bit to teach Naruto; but Naruto isn't as stupid as he comes across, he'll spot what he perceives as favouritism almost instantly. it just doesn't work."

"Neither does putting him anywhere else Jiraiya. The Ino-Shika-Cho combination is completely impractical to separate, and Kurenai's team of the Hyuuga, Inuzuka and Aburame is pretty much perfectly balanced for a recon team. Team 7 isn't just the logical choice, it's the only choice." The Sandaime took a breath as he looked at the growing frustration on his former student's face. He cared so much for the boy, but had always found a reason as to why he couldn't get involved with him. Sarutobi suspected that it was initially his grieving that prevented him from taking in his godson, who bore such a striking resemblance to his father. then, as time passed; and Naruto's life became progressively worse, it was guilt that kept the Sannin away. That and the fear of rejection. Which was entirely natural when you thought about how Naruto could potentially perceive events.

No matter, it was time for him to go in for the kill.

"Of course someone could take the boy as an apprentice..."

Jiraiya looked like he had just been winded. He opened his mouth repeatedly, before closing it immediately after, genuinely lost for words.

"Naturally, the council would fervently oppose such a suggestion; but there would be nothing they could if, say, one of the Sannin wanted to." Sarutobi placed a great emphasis on the word Sannin, driving his point even further home. Finally jiraiya had collected his thoughts enough to actually speak.

"Absolutely no way! I can't teach him, what about the spy network? Someone needs to keep an eye on Orochimaru. Besides, I swore I wouldn't take another pupil after Minato, and I meant it. The kid would probably hate me anyway, once he learns what I am to him." Jiraiya paused, somewhat startled that the last sentence had left his mouth. "I just...can't. If there's nothing else, sensei; I need a drink"

Jiraiya didn't wait for confirmation before leaping from the window by which he entered. Sarutobi didn't stop smirking. He knew his pupil would come around.


	7. Hey Look, No Seals

Three Weeks Until Team Assignments

"Whaddya mean 'seal-less jutsu'?" Naruto asked whilst scratching the top of his head, his face scrunched in confusion.

Yuugao frowned, as he saw yet another example of Naruto's lack of basic education. The theory behind seal-less jutsu had been covered in the fourth year of the Academy. Whilst Naruto had been catching up at an incredible rate, he was still mid-way through the third year of the curriculum. An incredible feat, considering he had only been at it for a week.

Admittedly, his success was partially down to a little-known fact about the shadow clone that was one of the reasons the technique was so chakra intensive. The clones the technique produces, have a single-minded focus on the task given to them by the creator. The clones Naruto had been created, lacked Naruto's short attention span and poor concentration.

"You've covered chakra memory, correct?" Yuugao questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah! It was really boring though, it took my clones a whole day to understand everything in the books."

"Well, it is a rather tricky concept, even at a basic level. Anyway, seal-less jutsu work using chakra memory. You see, you don't actually need hand-seals to perform ninjutsu. They are a time saving technique, as well as meaning that shinobi don't have to perfect mastery over their chakra in order to perform jutsu. First, you have to concentrate on the way your chakra moulds as you form the seals. You need to concentrate on exactly how it feels as the chakra moulds. You follow me so far Naruto?"

The blonde nodded slowly attempting to process the information he had been given. He had improved in his knowledge over the week, however his practical comprehension of the knowledge needed to be improved. After all, it was one thing to read about doing something; but another thing to actually do it in real life.

Finally, Naruto nodded more firmly to indicate his understanding, before asking a question.

"Yuugao-sensei, what's the difference between chakra control and chakra mastery?"

Yuugao's smile grew slightly as Naruto asked his question, not only did him asking indicate he was taking in what she was teaching him; but it told her he was understanding it, at least as well as any other Genin would.

"Good question Naruto. Essentially, chakra control is one aspect of chakra mastery. I don't think there has ever been a shinobi with complete mastery over their chakra, even though some attain near perfect chakra control. Chakra control itself is how efficiently we use our chakra. Using only what we need with no waste."

Naruto nodded once more, already understanding the concept of chakra control from his studies.

"However chakra mastery, is the ability to manipulate your chakra at will. Moulding chakra internally with no effort or seals; or using it externally as a weapon. With perfect chakra mastery, in theory, it should be possible to mould chakra in ways that hand-seals could never achieve, meaning that jutu could be created with almost limitless possibilities."

Naruto was positively star-struck, as Yuugao explained chakra mastery in more detail. It sounded awesome.

"It is said that the your Father, the Yondaime, reached an incredibly high level of chakra mastery. So high that he was able to project seals externally using just his chakra."

Naruto gaped at that. He was no expert on Fuuinjutsu, the Academy basics covered storage scrolls, and exploding tags. He also knew, after some extra reading, that his Father held the title of Sealmaster. A prestigious shinobi title that was recognised all through the elemental nations, on par with Sannin, and even Kage. The Yondaime had developed a way of utilising the more powerful seals in mid-battle, without the use of scrolls or ink, an unthinkable feat.

"Obviously, practising to perform jutsu without hand seals, is a small step towards developing such a high level of chakra mastery. It will be a long while before you can utilise techniques on par with the Yondaime."

Naruto grinned at the former ANBU, looking ever confident and assured.

"Yeah, but I gotta start somewhere right?"

"Of course. Now form some Kage Bunshin. Use only two or three, but use far more chakra to create them than usual, that way each Bunshin will be able to use Kage Bunshin in order to ty and get the feel of how the chakra moulds. You'll need to replace the first set of Bunshin regularly, as they will be expending their chakra incredibly fast."

Naruto nodded in understanding, before Yuugao continued.

"You will only practice this for a little while, as it will deplete your own chakra incredibly fast." She continued, making sure Naruto wasn't about to start complaining about having his training time limited, before going on. "As for you and me, we'll be moving on from basic taijutsu into beginning work on the first stages of your new style, beginning with the stances."

The blonde's eyes widened in excited anticipation. He was finally gunna start work on his own style.

Naruto grinned at the Chunin standing in front of him, who was wearing a rather proud smile of his own.

"That's thirty Naruto! On the final day as well..."

"Eat that Iruka-sensei! You owe me a jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed allowing the ping-pong balls to drop to the floor all at once, allowing them to spill away in multiple different directions.

"Hehe I guess I do." The Chunin replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in a way incredibly reminiscent of the blonde standing before him.

"And I think I have something in mind, watch very carefully Naruto, this is one of my favourite jutsu. It's a C-rank Raiton technique. But despite it's fairly low ranking, it is incredibly useful when used in combination with Suiton techniques."

Iruka flashed through hand-seals, as Naruto leant forward in unconcealed anticipation.

"Raiton: Kaminari Muchi!"


	8. Jiraiya

The Next Day...

The Sannin shifted into a sitting position as he continued to watch the spectacle in the clearing below him, from his treetop vantage hadn't been able to keep himself away. Just like with his previous students, the boy had captured his attention and just wouldn't let go. Being Naruto's Godfather, the Sannin was privy to information of the blondes training; as such, he knew that Sarutobi had no concrete plan for the taijutsu style Naruto was currently coming up with. He had simply instructed Yuugao equip him with the basics, and perhaps a little inspiration, and let the creative boy run with it. And even Jiraiya had to admit, the boy had utilised his inventiveness and taken to creating a brand new style like a duck to water.

He had learnt the basics, using his Kage Bunshin to a fairly advanced level, as well as the academy style. And while most people would attempt to combine these into rigid kata and combinations, the child had taken a completely different approach. Instead, he was using what he knew to create more of a 'fighting philosophy'; a manner of combat that could be moulded and adapted, one that could evolve with the shinobi learning it. This was in fact, how all of the 'true' shinobi taijutsu styles had come into being. Styles such as the 'Goken' focus on speed, and physical superiority, mastery of ones own body in order to master your opponent. Whereas his sensei's style, the 'Saru-ken' revolved around using the terrain to your advantage, in order to strike the enemy from unexpected angles or from outside their field of vision.

This is what Naruto had done instinctively. His 'fighting philosophy' appeared to revolve around keeping the enemy off balance, and never maintaining a rigid pattern of attacks; thus preventing the enemy from predicting your next move. This approach was supplemented by his obvious talent with the Kage Bunshin technique, using the Bunshin to work in tandem with himself to constantly keep the enemy fending off attacks from multiple directions, and often at the same time. This prevented them from gaining any kind of foothold in the fight. Of course, the obvious advantages is relative to the abilities of the enemy; which is where ninjutsu and other techniques and strategies came into play. This is where approaching taijutsu as a philosophy, rather than a rigid doctrine was essential for a shinobi. It allows the shinobi to seamlessly weave other techniques into their combat.

That Naruto was approaching his training from this angle was highly impressive, and spoke a lot for natural disposition towards the shinobi arts; despite the fact that he obviously lacked the natural talent of say, an Uchiha. This is where Naruto mirrored his Father. They were both as talentless as they came, but both were so driven and determined that their work-rate made up for the slow learning curve. And that was the problem. He was far too much like the Sannin's old student. Even now, he couldn't help but be reminded of watching his own student train; doggedly practicing and improving until they had achieved what they had set out to. He was here out of some kind of perverse and masochistic curiosity, he knew the grief that he would face every time he laid eyes upon his Godson.

But he kept coming back, kept checking up on the boy every time he was in the village. And over the years, the grief had morphed into something far, far more unbearable. Guilt. Unfathomable guilt. He knew damned well he could have improved the boy's life, helped him escape his loneliness. But he hadn't, out of pure selfishness and cowardice. And now, he wasn't sure if any relationship with Naruto would be salvageable. How could the boy forgive him?

He sighed as he watch the boy switch the focus of his training, and ten identical figures worked through several hand-seals; and all at once intoned the name of a fairly basic lightning technique. The results were mixed, but the boy hadn't used enough chakra; and only managed to channel the technique through his hand instead of extending it from his hand an obvious sign of his advancement in chakra control. However, Naruto hadn't thought about it like that. Frustration evident, he and his clones had repeated the technique several times; and each time increased the amount of chakra. Finally Naruto had grown impatient, and channelled far more chakra than he should have done.

'SHIT!'

The Sannin was in motion before he realised it. Naruto had totally overloaded his technique completely, resulting in a rather impressive explosion; flinging Naruto backwards, towards the forest behind the clearing he had been using for training. Fortunately, Jiraiya was deceptively fast, considering his age; and managed to catch Naruto before he struck the tree, thus preventing any serious damage.

"Damn, old man. You are fast!"

Jiraiya froze in place. The kid should have been knocked out cold for that. He hadn't intended to actually still be around when he came to. His gaze fell to the boy he was still holding in his arms, and observed the obviously impressed expression on his face. He placed the kid down so he could stand and faked a smug grin.

"Yeah well, when you're the magnificent Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku; such acts of incredible heroism come as naturally as simply breathing!" Sure, he was laying it on thick, even for him; but it should annoy the kid so much he could leave without-

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud snort from the boy in front of him. "Whatever, you're still an old man!"

"Oh really? I bet I could teach a thing or two about that jutsu you were working on! After all, a shinobi of my obvious calibre must be well versed in ninjutsu."

He had spoken without thinking. A habit that had long since been beaten out of him by Sarutobi. He hadn't been able to help himself. Naruto had just coaxed him into it.

"Really? You could really help me out?" He exuded enthusiasm as he spoke, echoing memories of a certain other blonde jutsu enthusiast, many years before. Yet strangely he was not hit by the grief of losing his last student. He knew, should he actually decide to help the kid out; that once he found out how Jiraiya had left him during his childhood, he would not want to see him again. But Jiraiya still felt compelled to help the kid. He owed him that much for one, Jiraiya also held techniques that were his by birth right. But there was another reason, rather than add to the loss that had niggled away at him since his students passing as he had expected; just interacting with him had lessened it. Almost as if a weight was slowly being lifted off his shoulders, simply by being around the blonde in front of him. Lastly, he found that the boys enthusiasm as completely infectious.

He turned towards Naruto who was staring up at him eagerly awaiting a response. A grin spread across the Sannin's face.

"So... you wanna learn justu?"

Naruto panted as he raced through the seals for Raiton: Kaminari Muchi for what was possibly the thousandth time. He had to admit, Jiraiya knew his jutsu. The old mans demonstration of the technique had been incredible. He had flashed through the seals at almost inhuman speeds, before releasing the technique on both hands; launching two crackling whips of lightning chakra at a pair of trees, and using the technique to physically tear the tree down.

He bought his own hand to bear on another tree, sending it towards his target, and used it to strike his target; gauging out a rather large chunk of the tree.

"Pretty good. You've gained enough control of the chakra to effectively use it as a whip. The next step would be to learn to use it to wrap round a target. However that can wait for a while. I need to talk to you."

Naruto looked at the man before him, his face contorted into what was nearly a grimace. Of course, Naruto had figured out who the man was the moment he had laid eyes upon him. His studies to catch up had inadvertently covered the three Sannin, and how the Sage Jiraiya had tutored the Fourth. He had gone to ask the Old Man to ask what had happened to the man who might be able to tell him more about his Father. It was there that he had learnt that Jiraiya was his Godfather, and his reasons for not staying with in Konoha.

At first Naruto had been furious. But, as he calmed down, he found he could; at least a little, understand how Jiraiya felt. The Hokage had then gone on to explain how important the man was to the villages spy network and ability to stay ahead of any threats, and how such a job would have meant Naruto wouldn't have been much better off. And Naruto could definitely understand that. Jiraiya had to put the village first no matter what, and for that Naruto couldn't help respect him, if only a little. And it was because of this, Naruto decided that if he were ever to meet Jiraiya; he would give the man a chance to make up for lost time. And as far as Naruto could see, that was what the man was trying to do.

Jiraiya took a deep breath as he finished his speech to Naruto. He had started from the beginning, and told him absolutely everything; he was his father's sensei, his Godfather, absolutely everything. All the way through, Naruto had sat fairly calmly, not once showing any sign of the reaction that he was certain that he was going to receive. Instead Naruto just sat in front of him with a smile on his face. His confusion was turning into worry, he had no idea what this meant. He just couldn't read what the kid was thinking. That is, until Naruto spoke.

"You're here now though, right? You're trying to make up for it now, aren't you?"

The Sannin was floored, he couldn't quite formulate a reaction.

"Listen, I guess what I'm trying to say is I forgive you. Yeah I was lonely growing up, and you probably could have changed that. But I have people I consider precious now, and my life has changed because of it. I guess I could try and stay angry with you, but what would be the point? that would just mean throwing away the possibility of gaining another friend, and probably the last living link to my Father."

Naruto took a breath, before breaking out into his trademark grin.

"But that doesn't mean your not gonna have to do at least a little bit of work. I mean, I bet an awesome ninja like you would have at least a little bit to show someone like me."

That was when it clicked in the Sannins mind. 'He already knew! Sensei set me up!' He glanced over at Naruto who had gotten back up, and had resumed practicing his taijutsu with a group of shadow clones. He had been given a second chance. Jiraiya couldn't help but smile to match his Godson. 'That doesn't mean the old goat won't pay for setting me up like this.'

He couldn't help but think about the kids ambition to be Hokage. 'Jiraiya: 'The man who trained two Hokage's.' Now I bet that would impress the ladies...'


	9. Abduction

Genin Team Assignment Day

Naruto fidgeted listlessly in his seat, as Iruka-sensei continued to read out the team assignments. He didn't even know why he had to be here; he already knew that he wouldn't be assigned a proper team, as he was going to be apprenticed to Jiraiya. But the old pervert had insisted that he show up at the academy. Naruto suppressed a scowl as he thought about his new sensei's 'eccentricities'. All things considered, Jiraiya had managed to keep his habits fairly low-key; but apparently even a Sannin can't maintain self control for more than a few days. He had been practising one of the jutsu his clones had uncovered in the library, Fuuton: Goukuuhou; and had just about figured out the amount of chakra he should be using to avoid the jutsu blowing up in his own face (this had actually happened, more than once, much to Jiraiya's amusement), when the Sannin declared that he needed to go some research, and that he wouldn't be too far away if Naruto needed him. He had just assumed the pervert was working on a new jutsu or technique that he needed to keep secret, and so continued to train. Several hours passed, and Naruto decided that he should go find the Sannin, to show his progress. Fortunately, he wasn't particularly difficult to find, as he seemed to be giggling at something fairly loudly, from behind a bush.

He was spying. On women, who were swimming in the river that the hill that they had been training on overlooked.

Needless to say, the man got a full strength Oiroke no Jutsu; which subsequently sent the man over the edge of the cliff, into the midst of the very women he had been spying on. They had heard Naruto scream pervert, and once they laid eyes on Jiraiya, they connected the dots. The sound of the resultant beating was thoroughly satisfying. Simultaneously, Jiraiya gained a new name. Ero-sennin.

Naruto perked up slightly when he heard Iruka call Sakura's name.

"Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Shimura Sai, you are Team 7." Just as Iruka finished speaking, the classroom door opened revealing a boy no older than Naruto.

"I am Shimura Sai, I apologise for being late."

The boy immediately put Naruto on guard. Something wasn't right with him. He wore a short, black jacket that exposed his stomach, and the tanto strapped to his back immediately set him apart from the rest of his class as someone who had more than basic shinobi training. But it wasn't that, that bothered Naruto. It was the boy's smile. It was painfully forced, and hadn't left his face since he had entered the room. He filled Naruto with unease as he took the seat next Sakura, the seat that he had forgone in order to avoid a beating that said girl would have given out all too easily if he hadn't budged. He himself had taken a seat at the back row, next to Hinata. A girl whom Naruto, had never actually spoken to himself, mainly because she had always kept herself to herself and never really drawn his attention, or anyone else's for that matter. He quickly decided that he should change that, and now was as good a time as any. And besides that, he wanted a second opinion on that Sai kid.

"Hey Hinata, do you notice anything weird about Sai?" He whispered, as the hubbub following the announcement continued. Naruto couldn't help be curious as Hinata stiffened as he spoke, and barely met his eyes as she stuttered out a response.

"H-his smile it doesn't seem natural, l-like -" She was cut off by Iruka announcing the next team, over the noise of the class.

"Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata, you are in Team 8."

"Unlucky Hinata, you have dog-breath on your team." He murmured, trying to ensure Kiba didn't over hear his joke; but then had to repress his own laugh when Hinata's hand shot to her mouth, in order to stifle a giggle at the expense of her new team-mate.

The Academy curriculum actually contained an extensive section on the reading of body language, and using that information to your advantage. Naruto had long since covered the entire Academy curriculum using his shadow clones, and as such, could tell Hinata was horrifically nervous. She was pushing her fingers together, and refusing to lift her gaze from the desk in front of her. Unfortunately, even with his new found skill knowledge about body language, he still couldn't figure out exactly why she was so nervous. She could just be shy, Naruto supposed. But no one is that shy, are they?

Eventually, Iruka reached Naruto's name last, just in time to stop the whispers of how he didn't get a team. Because after all, who would want the 'dead-last'?

"And Uzumaki Naruto has been personally chosen as an apprentice to Jiraiya of the Sannin."

It was hard to miss the pride in Iruka's voice, despite the fact he wasn't supposed to show any favoritism. And whilst that made Naruto happy; it wasn't nearly as happy as the shocked silence that had graced the room at Iruka's announcement made him. Actually it was lees the shocked silence, and more the fact that the shocked silence made the sound of Sasuke-teme grinding his teeth out of what Naruto perceived as jealousy, carry around the room. Priceless.

"He says you are to meet him at your usual training area, at 10:30am sharp."

Naruto checked the clock in the corner of the room. 10:25.

'So not only was the pervert too lazy to actually come and meet me, he's going to make me run. Someone is just begging to be pranked.'

Naruto exited the Academy at a run, determined to get to Jiraiya before his tome ran out. If he was late, Jiraiya would probably spend at least an hour refusing to train him, whilst he did his 'research', 'as punishment'. However, before he could increase his pace; a piercing scream broke the placid silence outside of the academy building. Naruto stopped in his tracks. He knew there would be other ninja that would have heard it, most of them Chunin or Jonin. But what if they didn't make it in time? It didn't take Naruto any more than a second to make the decision, before he set off towards the scream.

It didn't take long for Naruto to discover the reason for the scream. He spotted the shinobi first, darting from rooftop to rooftop, at an impressive speed; heading towards Konoha's South Gate. It took a little longer, to figure out the reason for the scream. A small girl, no older than five, was slung over the shinobi's shoulder, her blonde hair billowing out behind them as they moved. Naruto immediately set after them, making his way to the rooftops of the village. Unfortunately, this alerted the mysterious shinobi to his presence; and he turned his head to meet Naruto's eyes, and the blonde couldn't help but notice his Hitai-ate. He was an Iwa shinobi. An Iwa shinobi was kidnapping a child in Konoha. However, this revelation brought Naruto more questions than answers; such as, where the hell were the ANBU?

This momentary distraction was all it took. The blonde almost didn't see it. An explosive note, placed just where Naruto was about to land. The newly instated Genin was working on instinct at this point, and the two tell-tale 'pops' that signalled the arrival of a pair of Kage Bunshin told Naruto that his training of the technique with Yuugao had paid off. And as Naruto felt the Bunshin's hands grasp his jacket, he could only pray that he had made it time.

The mysterious, black-clad ninja glanced back, to see if his trap had ensnared his pursuer, and couldn't help but be impressed with what he saw. The kid had summoned two Kage Bunshin, without seals and mid-jump. The first was used to give the second leverage, and the second pulled the brat out of the way of the explosion; and the boy had instantly moved to go after him again. 'Looks as if I'm going to have to teach a lesson.' The ninja's eyes were drawn to a park-area; that was, like much of Konoha, forested, a few houses past his current location. 'That's as good a place as any.'

The Iwa ninja descended to ground level amongst the trees, and awaited his prey.


	10. The Result Of Training

Naruto looked down to the wooded area in which the Iwa ninja had retreated into. 'Why would he try to hide in there, rather than move straight to the gates? Unless, he's trying to shake me. But... something still doesn't add up. Where the hell are the ANBU for a start? And why didn't anybody else hear that explosion?' Naruto ground his teeth together. None of this made any sense, but any answers he could figure out here were meaningless unless he saved that girl. 'So, he's using the tree's for cover, and going on what I saw earlier, he's pretty awesome at setting traps as he runs. Fine, I guess I'll have to play this one safe.' As he spoke two Kage Bunshin burst into existence alongside him, and set off into the forest, directly following the trail left by the shinobi; one leading the way and another hanging back slightly. The real Naruto followed the pair at a distance, staying just out the pair's eyeshot, meaning he would be out of sight should they come across the shinobi.

It wasn't long before the merit of taking the few seconds to think and strategise before acting became all too apparent, and all of a sudden he was incredibly grateful for all the extra reading he had done once he had finished with academy. And especially grateful towards that weird Jonin that had advised him to do it.

[Flashback]

"Raiton: Kaminari Muchi!" The lightning crackled off of his hand in way that was almost natural to him after two weeks of trying to master the technique. And despite the sweat exuding from just about every pore on his body, the heavy panting and the slightly lopsided way he was carrying himself, signalling the onset of exhaustion; he couldn't help feeling slightly smug, as the tree he had targeting let loose an almighty groan before toppling to the ground, causing a large tremor to reverberate around the clearing that he and Jiraiya had been using for a training ground. And for once, he found himself missing the presence of the self-proclaimed 'super-pervert', so that he could admire his handiwork.

"That's not bad you know, you still haven't quite nailed the control, but that will come with time I suppose."

Naruto stiffened and began to frantically search for the source of the unfamiliar voice, and his eyes very quickly settled on a man, leaning against a tree nonchalantly reading an orange book that was suspiciously familiar. And whilst his face was masked, the Konoha Hitai-ate that was tied around his face, covering his left eye marked him out as an ally.

"Who are you? And how come you're here?" Naruto questioned, his exhaustion temporarily overshadowed by his curiosity. The man in question straightened, and placed his book into the kunai holster at his waste.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, and I am the Jonin Sensei who was due to take you onto my team, before Jiraiya-sama agreed to make you his apprentice."

"Oh right! But that still doesn't explain why you're here though. I mean, I don't wanna be rude or anything; but this is a little bit far to come, just to say that." The blonde stated, throwing the Jonin a confused look. Kakashi's eye curved, creating what Naruto surmised was a smile.

"Ah, not as slow as you look than, eh?" Kakashi asked, causing anger to flare up in the Genin in front of him, much to his own amusement. However, he continued, as though oblivious to the rage he had generated in Naruto. "Well you're right. I came out here to have a quick talk with you, before I begin preparations for my own Genin team." Kakahi sighed through his mask, his eye losing the smile it had before. "I was the student of the Yondaime, your Father. And, as a result of the council's mistrust-" The masked shinobi's voice had begun to fill with venom as he spoke, forcing him to strain to regain his composure. "-due to the Kyuubi, I was forbidden to make contact with you, outside of my shinobi duties."

Naruto didn't quite know how to react. He was both angry and sad, that another person that could have made his early childhood just a little bit less lonely, hadn't been there. But he also understood what it was to be a shinobi, and that Kakashi hadn't been given a choice. Instead, he felt anger towards the council; a group of people who according to the Sandaime, and more recently Jiraiya, had done everything possible to make his life a misery.

"So Sandaime-sama decided that he would appoint you to my Genin team once you graduated." Naruto finally understood now. The man had wanted to make amends by teaching him, and now it must be like the chance was being taken away from him. "But now Jiraiya-sama is your Sensei, I can't help you directly, without being accused of trying to poach a student." Suddenly, the man's weird eye-smile returned. "However, if I were to stumble upon a rookie Genin, such as yourself; and offer him or her advice, than that would be part of my duty as an elite Jonin and superior, no? And if I were to say, drop a scroll; completely by accident as I leave, then that surely couldn't be breaking any rules, right?" Kakashi allowed a scroll to drop behind him, hitting the ground with a soft thud as he spoke. "Anyway, I'm a little late for a meeting, so I should probably go. But before I do, perhaps I should suggest you carry on with all that reading you have been doing. In fact, I would probably go so far as to suggest that you pay particular attention to battlefield tactics and strategies. As you are in an apprenticeship, the tactical theory is entirely different from that of a four-man cell; and it would be more than likely that you will have to do a few missions solo, too. But as I said, it's just a suggestion."

And with that, the man disappeared in a puff of smoke, signifying a shunshin technique, leaving behind a scroll with a note attatched.

'This is one of my personal favourites, and I'm sure you'll figure out a use for it. Enjoy.' Naruto eagerly opened the scroll, and let out a cry of joy with what he found.

[Flashback End]

Naruto grimaced as he received a first person view of his first Kage Bunshin's fate. It had got it's foot caught in a concealed rope that had tightened around it's leg, and as it was yanked into the air upside down; it managed to catch sight of the handful of kunai that had been let loose in it's direction as the trap activated, before they plunged into it's flesh, dispelling it.

Meanwhile the second Bunshin involuntarily gulped, as it fulfilled it's duty of summoning the replacement.

"Glad that's not my job."

* * *

Naruto and his Bunshin pushed on in a similar fashion; until eventually, the leading Bunshin signalled to the one behind him to stop, before dispelling itself. The original Naruto grinned slightly as the memory of spotting the Iwa shinobi setting up the next trap a few metres ahead of his first clones position. he circled around the area, giving the enemy a fairly wide birth, to try and get behind the ninja. As he was doing this, his remaining clone played it's part.

* * *

"Hey asshole!" The Bunshin screeched at the Iwa nin, as it leapt down from the tree's into the area where the shinobi was setting up his latest trap. "Hand over that girl, before I kick your ass!" The foreign ninja let out a short, bark of a laugh.

"Why don't you come over here and make me, you little shit." He had barely finished speaking before the Bunshin charged at him, his fist cocked back for a punch. "A head on charge? What the fuck do they teach in this village?" Upon hearing this the charging Naruto grinned, and the Iwa shinobi widened his eyes as he heard two Bunshin appear, and turned his head just in time to see them running at him from behind; taking advantage of the distraction caused by the first. Working purely on instinct, he spun and ducked the blow of the first, and extended his right left leg as he spun, catching the second clone in an improvised sweep. Before, the first clone could regain his balance, he straightened and chambered a kick to destroy the second.

"Raiton: Kaminari Muchi!"

He felt the Raiton chakra whip tighten around the leg he was just about to use, numbing his leg slightly and pulling him off balance; only for the Bunshin he was about to destroy land it's own kick to his stomach, sending him sprawling to the ground. However, this also disconnected the raiton technique that had connected to his leg. He threw a glance to the his captive, who was still unconscious, leant up against a tree just outside of the current area of the battle, before returning his eyes to the opponents before him. The one who had landed the kick on him, was watching him warily, ready to react to his next move. However, the one who had used the ninjutsu was breathing heavily, and just as he was trying to figure out why he was so tired, he exploded in a puff of smoke. 'That one was a Kage Bunshin too? And I watched the other one be created, so that means the real one isn't here!'

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu!"

The Iwa shinobi cursed as he felt Naruto's hands grasp his ankles, and once again only instinct and experience saved him from the jutsu. He performed a Kawarimi no Jutsu just as the blonde began to pull him underground, replacing himself with a section of a branch from one of the tree's above. He raced through hand seals, whilst below the real Naruto leapt out from the hole created by his jutsu.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Naruto eyes were drawn up, and they widened as he caught sight of the size of the fireball that was coming his way. 'Shit! That thing is way bigger than the one I saw Sasuke-teme practicing during the Academy! I have to move, but I don't have the time!'

"Raiton: Kaminari Muchi!" Naruto felt the feeling of his own lightning chakra wrap around his leg, as his remaining clone used the jutsu to yank him out of the path of the fireball; which in turn expended the last of it's own chakra, thereby dispelling it. He had barely landed when his gut told him to move once more. He rolled sideways, dodging the incoming knee of the Iwa shinobi. The enemy ninja launched himself at Naruto once again, raining down attacks at the fresh Genin; only to be forced to leap over a leg sweep from a fresh Bunshin, that had seemingly materialised from nowhere. Suddenly, the enemy ninja was on the back foot, being forced to defend against relentless attacks from all directions. No sooner had he blocked a punch from the original, the Bunshin was attacking from behind; forcing him to angle his body sideways to deal with both threats at once. He stepped over a leg sweep aimed at his left leg from the Bunshin, and used the motion to flow into a kick at the Bunshin. The original hadn't reacted fast enough to the clones initial strike, leaving the Iwa nin with an opportunity to counter. He lashed out at the Bunshin, destroying it with a well placed kick to the side of the Bunshin's head. Unfortunately, the sound of the Bunshin being destroyed masked the sound of the creation of two more.

"Fuuton: Goukuuhou no Jutsu!"

"Fuuton: Goukuuhou no Jutsu!"

The two clones announced their jutsu in perfect unison, each launching a barrage of tight spheres of deadly wind towards the enemy ninja, each impacting his torso and tearing into his uniform and skin underneath. The ninja was sent barreling backwards, skidding across the mud, before impacting the base of a tree. The original Naruto looked on as the ninja shakily stood up, and made for the unconscious girl; attempting to escape the scene of the battle. He signaled to his clones, who both used their Raiton jutsu to pull the Iwa nin to the ground, preventing him from reaching the girl. The Iwa nin began racing through hand seals on the ground, too quickly for Naruto to stop him.

"Time for the back-up plan! If I cannot capture the target, destroy it, so it can never be used against us! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Naruto watched in horror as the ball of flame erupted from the shinobi's mouth, ready to incinerate the child he had been fighting to protect. There was no way he could stop it. Was there? Naruto took a deep breath. He had promised he would make his Father proud, and even if this was to be his last and only chance. Uzumaki Naruto, never goes back on a promise. And there was no way he would let this girl die. Regardless of the cost.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu." Naruto intoned the words for the jutsu not in the adrenaline charged shout that many ninja use during a life and death battle, but in a calm voice, that seemed to settle his own mind. And as he felt the pull of the technique end, indicating he had successfully swapped with the girl, he opened his eyes to face his fate head on.

"Doton: Doruku Gaeshi!"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as a large stone wall erupted in front of him, stopping the fireball in it's tracks.

"As usual, the Gallant Jiraiya comes to the rescue in the nick of time, and saves his new student from the clutches of death."

The blonde turned his head to where the small girl had been moments before, and turned his head back to see the stone wall crumbling to reveal a very different man to the one had been fighting earlier. This one was taller for a start, and wore a Jonin flak jacket, as well as a Konoha Hitai-ate. Immediately, something clicked in Naruto's brain.

"What he hell is going on here!" He shouted, as he watched both men grin at him; even as the tall Jonin began to light a cigarette.

"What is going on, is that you just passed the Genin test, gaki." Jiraiya stated, his face not losing the smug grin it was wearing.

"...Test?" At this Jiraiya sighed impatiently, and rolled his eyes.

"Well didn't you wonder where all the ANBU were? Or that if the kidnapped girl was so important, why no-one was looking for her? This was a test designed by myself and Sarutobi Asuma over here, in order to see if you were ready to become a Genin, or more specifically a Konoha Genin." This appeared to confuse the blonde even more.

"But I thought i had already graduated after the Mizuki incident? And what about the girl and the Iwa ninja? I still don't get what's going on!" Jiraiya pinched the bridge of his nose. Sure, he knew that the kid was still trying to the shake off the adrenaline of a battle and all that, but it was really frustrating to have to explain it all.

"Yes you graduated, but before you officially become a Genin, each individual Sensei puts there squad under a test of their own design in order to judge whether the potential Genin have the qualities that they want from shinobi under command. Hatake Kakashi, one of Konoha's more proficient Jonin, puts his students through a test designed to test their teamwork. As I am taking you as an apprentice; teamwork, whilst still important, is not a priority, so I tested you for different qualities." Seeing that the blonde was still giving him his full attention, Jiraiya continued. "First of all, I tested you to make sure everything that you've learnt in these past weeks has actually stuck around in that thick skull of yours. We intentionally forced you into situations where you would have to use the skills you have learnt, such as the tree's laced with traps. But more importantly, I tested you to make sure that you had the thing that gives all of Konoha's greatest ninja their strength. The 'Will of Fire'." Naruto once again looked confused.

"What's 'The Will of Fire'? I haven't heard of it before? What do you mean it gives Konoha ninja their strength?" This time it was Asuma who stepped forward to speak.

"'The Will of Fire' is the phrase we use to describe the spirit that drives Konoha ninja to fight. It's the desire to protect what is precious to you, and the extra strength that desire grants you when that precious something is put at risk. For us Konoha shinobi, it is the village and it's people that we strive to protect above all else. For some, like me in fact, it takes a while to realise and understand what it is that you as a ninja fight for. And for others, it is instinctual. People like your Father and the rest of the previous Hokages, are those kind of people. They understand on a base level that they would put their life on the line for what they consider precious. Whether that means loved ones, friends, the village, or the people that live within it's walls." Asuma paused as he stepped on the finished cigarette, that he had let fall onto the ground.

"And I have to say that today, you proved that you understand 'The Will of Fire' perfectly, even if you didn't realise it at first. When you performed the Kawarimi with the child, you did not hesitate. You simply knew that you had to save her no matter the cost. that is 'The Will of Fire.'" Jiraiya grinned as the understanding dawned on Naruto's face.

"Anyway, gaki; if you still haven't figured it out yet, the little girl was me henged. And Asuma was the Iwa nin you fought, also in a henge."

"But how did you maintain the jutsu as we fought? Surely the hits you took should have dispelled it?" He had aimed the question at Asuma, but it was Jiraiya who answered.

"That would be because of these." The Sannin stated, pulling on a slip of paper from his jacket. "They are seals of that I that store chakra, and pump it into an already active henge technique to 'smooth over' and disruptions in the Henge." Naruto still looked lost, despite the fact he was nodding his head, causing Jiraiya to have to fight back another sigh. "Listen, you understand that a Henge is a basic genjutsu right? And that when a land a hit on someone, it disrupts the chakra being pushed into the Henge to keep it active, cutting it off from power and as a result, dispelling it?" This time Naruto nodded far more surely, showing his understanding. "Well these seals essentially act as a back-up generator for the jutsu, giving it chakra to replace the user as the source, meaning it cannot be dispelled by taking a few hits."

"Could they be used for other jutsu, like a Bunshin?" The question had caught Jiraiya unawares. he had genuinely never thought of that.

"Possibly, but I'd have to revamp the seal. Why?"

"Just curious, it sounds like it could be really useful when used in combination with the Kage Bunshin, is all. Will you teach me how to use seals?" Jiraiya's grin grew at this.

"Of course, gaki. But only when you're ready. But first, we need to get some food down you. We have a busy day ahead of you still, so you'll need the strength." Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Busy day?"

"Of course! We still have to train a little bit, and we will start taking missions today as well. But first, we are going shopping. I will not have an apprentice of mine running around in bright orange."

Naruto just looked oblivious.

"But... what's wrong with orange?"


	11. The Failed D-Rank

Naruto looked himself over in the mirror for nearly the third time. Even he had to admit, he looked pretty bad-ass. He wore the standard black Konoha combats, tied off at the ankles to prevent loose fabric becoming a hinderance. Upon each thigh he wore a kunai pouch, in order to exploit the fact that he was ambidextrous (A trait even he hadn't realised, until Jiraiya had spotted that he didn't seem to favour any particular side when fighting). Upon the insistence of his sensei, he also wore a third; this one larger than the others, and with more compartments within, strapped to his belt slightly behind him. Jiraiya still hadn't explained to him what it was for, merely that he was confident that Naruto would enjoy using what it was designed to contain.

Replacing his old jacket, he instead had a plain black shirt with full length sleeves, over a mesh shirt for added protection. The shirt, whilst being full length, had been tied up from his wrists, all the way up to his elbow with bandages. Even with the function of preventing loose fabric, this was still incredibly unusual, and once again Naruto couldn't figure out for the life of him why he required it. Only that Ero-sennin had insisted upon it.

Finally, was the 'Pièce de résistance' of his new uniform, or at least in his opinion. Jiraiya had asked him if he wanted any additional body armour, and initially he had said no and they were all set to purchase a plain jacket instead; when something caught his eye. In the far corner of the shop, almost completely hidden by racks of generic shinobi attire, was a mannequin. Naruto couldn't help but wander over to it, to get a closer look. It wasn't particularly flashy, or eye-catching. But to Naruto, it just screamed 'awesome'.

Upon the mannequin was a set of shinobi body armour, made to be light-weight and manoeuvrable; whilst still providing protection from all but the heaviest of blows, and the deadliest of ninjutsu. It provided a more complete form of protection from the basic ANBU garb, although looking fairly similar. Unlike the ANBU uniform, it provided full protection of the shoulders and the sides of the torso. Where it seriously differed however was the mechanism. The ANBU uniform, was two pieces of material strapped over the shoulders and at the hips, sacrificing protection for speed and manoeuvrability. However, the armour in front of him was constructed from multiple interlocking 'plates' of material, allowing maximum movement, with no gaps in the armour as the cost.

These 'plates' were concealed underneath a top layer of deep mauve material, in order to disguise the mechanism. Meaning that, at first glance, the armour was restrictive; ideally meaning that any potential enemy would under-estimate the wearers speed and agility, giving him the edge. The armour also had several attatchments woven into the top layer of fabric, including straps where a scabbard could be attatched both across the back and at hip-level, and places where scrolls could be attatched.

"Now, that is interesting." Naruto turned to find his sensei, looking curiously at the armour. "These front panels of armour, have specially designed sections in which seals can be woven into."

"But at the academy teaches that seals can be placed on most kinds of material?" Jiraiya nodded in the affirmative, before replying.

"True enough. However, shinobi armour is woven together using material infused with chakra by the person who created it. This means that seals cannot be placed on some-one wearing the armour, without having to make changes to the seal array to make it compatible with the individual chakra of the person who made the armour. As you can tell, this would be almost impossible in a practical combat situation." The Sannin reached out a hand, and began examining the armour closely.

"However, this armour, is designed to fuse with the users chakra once a seal on the inside is activated. This enables the owner to place seals on his own armour in order to aid him in battle; whilst bypassing the seal defence put in place by the person who made it, leaving the defence active, in order to protect him from the use of seals by the enemy. A little known fact is that my old armour, and the Yondaime's Jonin flak jacket are made in the same way, as we both used seals extensively."

That had settled it for Naruto. For him, it was another link to his Father. Another link to his family.

That, and it looked completely awesome.

* * *

Sarutobi found, that despite the presence of several of his subordinates, many of them in really quite senior in position; that he couldn't keep the proud smile that he currently wore, buried under his need to be professional and impartial towards all of his shinobi. He also found that neither Iruka, nor Jiraiya could either. Naruto stood before him, sporting a slightly sheepish grin, in completely new shinobi attire, looking every bit the professional shinobi.

"I take that you are here for your first mission, Naruto?" The Hokage enquired, garnering an excited nod from the blonde in front of him.

"Excellent news! Iruka over here has your assignment ready for you." The Hokage gestured to Iruka, who was unable to hold back a grimace as he extended the mission scroll towards the fresh Genin. Sarutobi sat back in his chair, and awaited the fireworks.

"I have to deliver...groceries? What the he-!" Naruto's tirade was cut short as his sensei grabbed him by the mouth with one arm, gesturing to the elderly Kage with the other.

"I think I'll explain the 'merit's' of D-ranks to him, Sarutobi-sensei. Save your ears the trouble." Jiraiya stated, before hastily exiting the mission room with a still struggling, and evidently outraged Naruto under his arm.

As they left, the room's occupants burst into laughter. In truth, they had been waiting for the blonde to turn up all day. To most in the room, although they had no animosity towards Naruto (in fact some were rather fond of the Genin), the mission assignments was but a small vindication for the many pranks the blonde had pulled over the years.

"What the hell hind of mission is this Ero-sennin! Deliver groceries? This isn't a mission it's a chore!"

Jiraiya sighed heavily, already having anticipated his apprentices reaction to. For a start, the reaction of his first apprentice had been exactly the same.

"D-rank missions are an exercise used in order to promote the growth of teamwork, before you actually set out into the field. They give Genin an insight into how they're team mates think, and what kind of people they are. Without this prior bonding, sending Genin into a combat situation would be utter suicide." Jiraiya paused to check his student's understanding before continuing. "However, as I'm sure you're aware, you are not part of any team; and whilst you will be participating in joint missions with other teams, you will be doing a great many of these D-ranks yourself, as well as while working with one of the other Genin teams."

"But why do I have to do them by myself as well?"

Jiraiya grinned at his students question.

"We will be using them as a training exercise. One of the clever things about how the D-rank missions are set up, is that they all simulate a higher-ranked mission. For example, you are being asked to deliver groceries, correct? Well when we do this, you will take this to mean that you will be leading a mission, in which you and your team are to deliver valuable intel or cargo to a location, whilst protecting the cargo from external threats. Understand?" Naruto thought for a few seconds before answering.

"You said that I would be leading a 'team'. If I'm doing these missions independently, who will be my team? And how can there be any 'external threats' for me to protect the cargo from?" Naruto asked, his curiosity genuinely growing.

"You'll be using Kage Bunshin to simulate ninja under your command, and yours truly will act as the external threats. It's your job to command your ninja effectively, in order to complete the mission without sustaining any casualties amongst your subordinates. I want you to understand, that I'm not training you to be 'just another powerful shinobi'. I training you to be a leader. Someone who can lead a unit deep into enemy territory, on what most would consider a suicide mission, and return with everyone alive. You have to understand how to command shinobi effectively, and whilst minimising harm to your ninja. As Hokage, you will have to do this constantly. And often you can't be there to protect the ninja you have sent. As a result, your orders have to be spot on, or you will have an ally's blood on your hands. A friends blood on your hands. "

Naruto scanned the tree's around him intently for signs of his 'enemy'. Once they had collected the groceries he was supposed to deliver, Jiraiya had given him a map, planning his route for him. It had been explained that he would be allowed to plan his route for some missions, Jiraiya would do it for others in order to simulate occasions where only one route is available to him, and him and his team would have to take it, regardless of the danger. Typically, his sensei had given him the longest route through the village to his destination, cutting through many rarely used alleys and area's of park; each and every one a perfect location for an ambush

He returned his eyes to the Kage Bunshin convey he had ordered ahead of him. He was at placed the back, to enable him, in theory; to observe and react to the events that unfolded around him, hopefully giving the orders in time to save the lives of his 'comrades' as well as ensure the success of the mission. That was another condition that Jiraiya had laid out prior to beginning. His clones were only aloud to take action based on his orders, and were not allowed to act independently in any other capacity than self-defence. He had set his first clone at the front of the convoy, in order to act both as a scout and in order to initially engage with any threats. Two more were at the rear, enabling them to support and defend any threats to either the convey, or the first Kage Bunshin. The 'cargo' itself was being carried by a separate Bunshin, henged in order to appear as a traveling merchant. A further Bunshin, in order to maintain an element of unpredictability, even when being ambushed; was traveling underground using the Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu that he had learnt from Kakashi. He had provided this Bunshin with extra chakra, in order for him to maintain the jutsu; under the premise that for a similar mission, a ninjutsu specialist would be assigned to the squad.

Naruto was made to wait for almost the entire route around the village before Jiraiya struck. It was part of the way through a particularly tight alley, just a few minutes away from the delivery location; when the leading Bunshin raised a hand, simultaneously signaling to the rest to stop and that he had heard something. The original strained his ears, trying to hone in on the low rumbling sound that seemed to be growing in volume. '...Shit! Behind us!' The original span round, and was greeted with the sight of a powerful Fuuton technique; spanning the breadth of the alley, tearing up the ground as it sped towards the group.

"Bunshin-1, get the cargo to the rooftops! Bunshins 2 and 3, cover them!" Naruto barked out his orders as he himself took to the roofs, using the walls of the adjoining buildings to ascend. A glance towards the lead Bunshin told him that he had been successful in avoiding the initial attack. He then checked, below. Fortunately, the Fuuton technique hadn't torn into the ground enough to unearth the final Bunshin; leaving Naruto with an important tactical advantage, should it be needed.

"Boss, straight ahead!" The cry from his clones stirred Naruto from is slight lapse in focus, and he set his sights on Jiraiya; whom to his astonishment, was running up the wall vertically to get to their position, whilst being henged in order to look like a Kumo-nin.

"Clones 2 and 3, use Raiton: Kaminari Muchi, try and catch his legs!" The two clones acted almost immediately, firing off twisting bolts of electricity towards the enemy. Jiraiya reacted almost immediately, launching himself from the wall he had been climbing to the opposite one; but the chakra whip persisted forcing him to take to the air in between the two buildings again to avoid the tendrils of lightning.

"Fuuton: Goukuuhou no Jutsu!"

Jiraiya looked up to see the original Naruto in the air inhaling deeply, and sending several spheres of vicious wind chakra down at him. Reacting at incredible speeds again, he raced through his own hand-seals, and used 'Doton: Doruku Gaeshi' without even needing to speak the name of the technique. A stone slab emerged from the building, seemingly using the mortar holding the brickwork of the adjacent building together as it's source material, defending Jiraiya from the attack. However, the henged Sannin was now in free-fall; having had to defend himself mid-leap meant that he was prevented from gaining a foothold on one of the buildings.

"Raiton: Kaminari Muchi."

The Sannin calmly intoned the name of the jutsu that Naruto himself had used but a few minutes ago; using the lightning whip to grasp the stone slab he had just created, and swinging to the wall of the building Naruto was on, and instantly began moving towards the blonde again.

"Bunshin 4, now!"

Jiraiya looked towards the ground, far too late to be able to do anything about barrage of wind chakra that was just about to impact his chest. Just as the spirals a slicing chakra began to impact Jiraiya, he exploded in a puff of smoke.

'A Kage Bunshin? But that would mean- Oh, no...'

The blonde broke out into a desperate run, towards the final destination of his cargo, whilst signalling the fourth Bunshin to follow. Because, during the fighting he had used the opportunity to order the other Bunshins to press ahead, using the combat as cover to slip away. But they had been kept busy by a Kage Bunshin, leaving the convoy under-protected, with no knowledge of a second enemy.

He soon caught sight of both his Bunshin, and the henged Jiraiya; with the Bunshin running along the top of the rooftops carrying the 'merchant', and the Sannin running alongside of them on the wall beneath. The blonde watched as the Sannin ran through some hand-seals, too fast to do anything about it. Suddenly, the ground beneath his Bunshin transformed into some kind of swamp, dragging them waist deep through the roof of the building supporting them. Then, the jutsu stopped, leaving them trapped at the waist in the concrete of the building. Naruto made to move towards the Bunshin, but was nowhere near fast enough as Jiraiya walked up behind the entrapped Bunshin; and casually threw a trio of kunai, implanting then in the ground around his Bunshin. It took Naruto longer than it should have to figure out why Jiraiya had jumped from the roof with the Bunshins on.

The kunai had explosive notes on them. Naruto skidded to a halt as they detonated, and his minds flooded with the memories of his Bunshin. The blonde made to move to where his clones had been, only to be stopped by a voice from behind.

"I waited until you had made it into an area of the village that is waiting to be developed, so the explosive notes couldn't have harmed anyone."

"But I-, I-" Naruto began, shaken by the fact that he had failed to protect what could have been Konoha ninja, if this was a real life situation.

"Don't worry about it for now. We are gonna go to our training area and debrief, figure out what went wrong for you, and how you could have done things differently. You are only a fresh Genin, Naruto. I'm not expecting you to pull every thing off perfectly at the moment. This is a learning exercise, so we can make sure that this doesn't happen in the field." Naruto felt his Sensei's s hand on his shoulder and nodded.

"But first, we're gonna have to go back to the shops. I blew up that man's groceries..."


End file.
